Dial-in-handset telephones are now well known in the art. As disclosed in an article entitled "The Evolution of a Telephone" published in the January 1966 issue of the Bell Laboratories Record, the handset of such telephones incorporates the transmitter, receiver, dial, and the entire speech network. This is in contrast to the more conventional arrangement in which the handset proper only incorporates the transmitter and receiver, the dial and the speech network being mounted within a separate base or stand. In addition, the dial in dial-in-handset telephones is advantageously illuminated by means of a lamp and light guide.
The inclusion of all these elements in the handset, while at the same time keeping the handset small enough to be comfortably supported in a person's hand, results in a structure that is fairly complex. The challenge, therefore, is to arrange and support these components in a manner that not only facilitates their assembly during the manufacture of the set, but also facilitates their disassembly when maintenance or replacement of components is necessary.